The president of the Republic of Cyprus has pledged to support women in shipping with additional funding for female students and awards to recognise the people furthering gender equality.
Speaking in Limassol, president Nikos Christodoulides told the annual meeting of the Women In Shipping & Trading Association (Wista) that Cyprus sees gender equality as an “integral” part of sustainable growth.
“As a father of four girls, I would like to assure you of my personal commitment, of my Government’s determination, towards the promotion and encouragement of the engagement of more women in the maritime sector,” he said.
“We will always steadfastly support this goal, working together with the private shipping sector, with the International Maritime Organization. Wista is and will remain a key partner in this regard.”
Cyprus this year began implementing a two-year-long national strategy on gender equality, which includes a specific focus on the Cypriot maritime industry.
Cyprus’ Shipping Deputy Ministry will monitor the strategy’s progress, alongside the Commissioner for Gender Equality, he explained.
The strategy includes a new Gender Equality Award in Cyprus Shipping, which Christodoulides said will be bestowed annually to people – of any gender – who have made contributed significantly to advancing gender equality and empowering women.
He congratulated the award’s first recipient Despina Theodosiou, CEO of Tototheo Maritime and immediate past president of Wista International.
She also received the International Maritime Organization’s newly established Award on Gender Equality.
The Cypriot government is also funding 10 scholarships for women aged 25 and over for undergraduate studies in fields related to shipping, innovation and technology, Christodoulides said.
“One of the very first actions as Government was to establish the granting, on an annual basis, of a scholarship scheme in memory of the scholar Christiana Kouta, who dedicated her life to gender equality and to education,” he said.
The Shipping Deputy Ministry is currently finalising the procedures for granting two new scholarships for Cypriot women, he added.
One scholarship will fund study at the World Maritime University and the other at the International Maritime Law Institute (IMLI).
The Deputy Ministry of Shipping and Office of the Commissioner for Gender Equality have commissioned a study that aims to record the gender ratio and different needs of and challenges faced by women and men in the sector, he added.
